The surrealists were greatly influenced by Sigmund Freud’s theories of sexuality. In his writings on the ‘Oedipus complex’, Freud argued that rivalries between sons and fathers for the attention of the mother could lead to feelings of confusion, shame and guilt about sex in adult life.
The Freudian ...

Purchased with assistance from the Art Fund (Eugene Cremetti Fund), the Carroll Donner Bequest, the Friends of the Tate Gallery and members of the public 1985.
De Chirico’s quiet square evokes the classical arcades and statuary of antiquity (the sculpture is a torso of Aphrodite). In contrast, the p...

The Prodigal Son (Italian: Il figliol prodigo) is a painting by the Greek-born Italian artist Giorgio de Chirico. It is painted in tempera on canvas and was completed in 1922 as de Chirico was in transition from the Metaphysical style of his earlier works to the neoclassicism he essayed in the 1920s...